Author's Note
Before anything else, I want to thank you for choosing to read my book. That means a lot to me, and I hope the story manages to touch you in some way. But I need to be honest: you might find some mistakes in the English translation. I sincerely apologize for that, in case something doesn't sound natural or causes any confusion.
Portuguese is my first language, and English... well, let's say it's not my strong suit. I'm not very proficient or fluent in it, and that limited me quite a bit. To bring this story to you, I used artificial intelligence to help with the translation. It was the best resource I had at hand, but I know it's not perfect and some slips might have gotten through.
Writing this book in Portuguese was something I did with a lot of care and dedication. I wanted to share this journey with readers in other languages, and the English translation was my attempt to make that happen. Even if the result has its flaws, my wish is that the spirit of the story still reaches you.
So, I ask for a bit of patience and understanding. If you can look past the possible mistakes, I hope you find something special in the pages I wrote. Thank you for being here and for giving my voice a chance!
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Every fiber of my being thrummed with a renewed vigor. My movements, once faltering and uncertain, now flowed with an almost instinctive precision, as though I were unearthing a potential long buried within me. A vibrant energy pulsed through my veins, a living current that urged me forward—but it was more than mere vitality that drove me. Beneath it lay something profound: an unshakable summons, a hunger that gnawed at my soul, urging me to chase mysteries lost to the sands of time.
"I'm ready," I murmured, my voice a faint breath, yet heavy with a resolve that seemed to ripple across the ages.
The words had scarcely left my lips when a spark ignited in my mind, a bolt of clarity slicing through the shadows.
"Bring me the two mysterious eggs," I commanded the system, my tone steady, brooking no hesitation.
Ding.
The familiar chime rang out, and in an instant, two eggs appeared, hovering before me. They floated in the air, cloaked in an aura that whispered of ancient epochs, as if they were artifacts plucked from a realm before the dawn of existence.
The first egg gleamed with a pristine whiteness, so pure it seemed to cradle the essence of daybreak, as though the radiance of a thousand stars had been woven into its shell. Beside it, the second egg stood in stark contrast—black as a night unlit by moon or stars, its darkness not merely absorbing light but consuming it, exhaling an abyss that tugged at me, as if I teetered on the edge of an endless chasm.
"They embody the very essence of opposites," I mused, captivated by the palpable energy that hummed from them, "light and shadow distilled into their truest forms."
Side by side they drifted, as if placed there by the hands of the cosmos itself to unveil their enigma. The air thickened around them, and a deep silence settled over the space—a hush so complete it felt as though the universe held its breath, murmuring secrets in a tongue I had yet to decipher.
"They're like seeds of worlds yet to be born," I reflected, the weight of that realization settling into my bones.
In that quiet moment of awe, a fierce ambition flared within me, a fire I could no longer contain, urging me to peel back the veils of their hidden truths.
"System," I called, my voice cutting through the stillness with unwavering certainty, "fetch two supreme species upgrade tickets and two lineage upgrade tickets. Apply one of each to the black egg, and the same to the white."
"Confirming…" The system's reply came swiftly, its mechanical timbre laced with a strange, unfamiliar anticipation.
Then, in a heartbeat, the marvel unfolded. From the white egg burst a blinding light, so radiant and fierce it seemed to hold the soul of every sunrise that ever graced the heavens. At the same moment, a thick, engulfing darkness spilled from the black egg, so vast it threatened to swallow every flicker of illumination in its path.
I stood transfixed, my gaze locked on the wild dance of clashing forces. With each collision, waves of energy surged outward, trembling through the air as though the cosmos itself thrummed in response to this symphony of light and shadow.
When the storm of power finally stilled, I looked upon the eggs once more. Their shells had transformed. The white egg now bore symbols that shimmered like distant stars, etched in patterns that echoed forgotten constellations, each glowing line a riddle unto itself. The black egg, meanwhile, pulsed with shadowy runes, their faint light hinting at an ancient might, as if carved by hands that once grasped the universe's deepest mysteries.
In the stillness that followed, a heaviness hung in the air, a sense that this moment was a threshold to something far grander than I could yet fathom. This was no mere enhancement—it was an awakening, a spark of potential stirring within me, its edges only just coming into focus.
"I'm on the cusp of something beyond reason," I thought, as the air grew dense and the eggs' soft glow cast fleeting shadows that danced across the walls.
My heart pounded, my mind ablaze with boundless possibilities. This, I knew, was merely the beginning. These eggs, with their enigma of radiance and void, were but the first step on a path destined to unfold in splendor and revelation.
As the faint echo of the ding lingered in the distance, a certainty took root within me: the true awakening lay ahead, heralding the next chapter of a tale the universe had long kept in store.
Their aura had shifted; they felt alive, potent, as if roused from a slumber spanning eons.
"Process completed," the system intoned, its icy voice reverberating in my mind, sending a shiver racing down my spine.
In that instant, I understood that whatever dwelled within those eggs defied all I could imagine. Before tucking them into my inventory, I stole one last glance, marveling at their perfect dichotomy: one, luminous and white, seemed forged of light itself; the other, a void of black, as if it could devour the world's every gleam.
"What other secrets do these ancient eggs conceal?" I wondered, a fleeting curiosity brushing my thoughts before fading.
"Time alone will tell," I whispered to myself, trusting some quiet instinct that the answers would find me when the moment was ripe.
After stowing the eggs with care, I turned my focus to the heart of my purpose.
"It's time to awaken my talent," I declared, a blend of eagerness and steel threading through my words.
Yet, in a sudden twist, something pulled me back. I retrieved the eggs from my inventory once more, as if an unspoken intuition whispered they still had a part to play.
Without pause, I issued my command: "Install the Herb Garden and the Lake of Creation Water within my Spiritual Sea. Then, use a supreme upgrade ticket to enhance all that ties to the element of life within me. And finally, awaken my talent."
The system responded at once, its dispassionate voice steady: "It is recommended that the host be unconscious during the process."
But I wouldn't bend. "No," I said, my tone resolute. "I'll stay awake. Pain doesn't frighten me—it never has."
My words were more than defiance; they were a vow to myself. My detachment from the world was no weakness, and pain was but a hurdle to vault.
"The odds of success may diminish," the system cautioned.
"So be it," I replied, unflinching.
"Understood," it confirmed, and I knew the die was cast.
I settled onto the cold floor, bare and unshielded, folding myself into a meditative stance. My eyes drifted shut, seeking a fleeting calm before the storm.
Soon, a dull ache pulsed in my bones, a harbinger that swiftly swelled into torment. It felt as though a force within me clawed to break free, rending my flesh and spirit in one brutal sweep. The pain seared, a fire that consumed every fiber, every cell, as if purging the last vestiges of my mortal self.
A translucent green light enveloped me then, a soothing balm that dulled the agony for a breath. Yet even this life-bound energy couldn't quell the mounting inferno. It mended me, yes, but at a crawl, granting only a momentary reprieve amid the chaos that devoured me.
Bit by bit, my body began to unravel. My skin dissolved into motes that drifted skyward, baring muscle for a fleeting second before it, too, crumbled to dust. My bones followed, scattering like sand borne on a gust. Each instant stretched into an eternity of anguish.
"I'm being unmade from within," I thought, the pain a relentless blade slicing through body, mind, and soul alike.
In that twilight between radiance and shadow, amid this rite of suffering and rebirth, I grasped a truth: awakening my talent wasn't just power gained—it was a price paid, a sacrifice of all I was to reach beyond my bounds. Every pang, every fragment of me that fell away, forged the path I'd chosen—a brutal, essential journey.
Submerged in torment and epiphany, I knew this was but a chapter's close. Though my form might scatter to ash, something within would endure, poised to rise anew with the breaking dawn.
My body was gone; only my mind lingered. In that final heartbeat, as all seemed to crumble, surrender claimed me. A cold, unyielding darkness swallowed me whole, and unconsciousness draped over me like a frost-woven shroud, marking the end of all I'd known.
But it was not the end.
I awoke in a realm beyond words—a void so absolute that even "nothing" felt too small a name. No light, no shadow, no sound—just a boundless absence. It was as if I floated in an ocean of nullity, the sheer lack of anything pressing down until I could scarcely feel myself.
Then, a stir. From the core of that emptiness rose a presence, its essence undeniable: oblivion. Ancient and mighty, it devoured memories, realities, existence itself—erasing all it grazed.
"Is this it? The end?" I asked myself, fragments of my identity slipping away, my consciousness fraying at the edges.
Yet oblivion couldn't claim me wholly. From its depths surged something raw—a chaotic, untamed force, primal and defiant, refusing to fade. It tore down and rebuilt without cease, a living tempest warring against the void. And in that maelstrom, creation clawed its way into being.
Before me unfolded a vision: twin powers—time and space, light and shadow—locked in a chaotic waltz, birthing and breaking in an endless spiral, crafting wonders I'd never dared dream.
Then came more dualities. Life and death collided with cataclysmic force, spawning primal elements in their wake. First a curse, then shadows, then illusions—energies that coalesced into earth, laying the foundation for all that would be.
Each moment roared with paradox—a ceaseless tide of ruin and renewal—and as I watched, I understood: endings and beginnings were but reflections of one another.
A vast realization washed over me. This was no fleeting glimpse; it was the universe baring its soul.
"From nothing came oblivion. From oblivion, chaos. And from chaos, all," I whispered, each word a stone weighted with eons of knowing.
The pain that once ravaged me had vanished. My body returned, yet transformed—something core had shifted. I opened my eyes slowly, bearing the gravity of what I'd witnessed.
"I am chaos," I murmured, my voice quaking with fresh conviction. "And from chaos, I'll become everything; and from everything, I'll become nothing."
In that moment, as chaos unveiled its truth within me, I stepped into a new reality—one where boundaries melted, and I glimpsed the heart of my existence.
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Ding!
Achievement Unlocked: Survived death, nothingness, oblivion, and chaos. Developed your Dao: 'And from chaos… I shall be everything, and from everything… I shall be nothing.'
Reward: Calculating…
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